These turkey or chicken crepes with leek and mushrooms are a great way to use leftover meat in a tasty comforting dish. Creamy, cheesy and easy to make, too!
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For many people, myself included, eating leftovers from Christmas or Thanksgiving is as much part of the festivities as the big meal itself. A plate of leftover stuffings, meat and cranberry sauce makes for a satisfying lunch. That said, it is easy to end up having too much turkey and becoming a bit fed up with it.
For me, the solution is to make a range of very different meals with the leftovers that mean you enjoy a range of flavors. Ideally, they shouldn't be too difficult (you just cooked a feast after all) and even better if they are comforting too, given the season.
These turkey or chicken leek and mushroom crepes fits right in that description.
Unfortunately I don't think the photographs here can truly do them justice. The lovely smooth, creamy, cheesy sauce with all the tasty additions in there is still, after all, a bit bland-looking. But the taste will quickly win you over.
Add to that, I figured out you can make this incredibly quickly without lots of pans - just one for the filling and one to cook the crepes. If you want to make things even easier, you could even cheat with some ready-made crepes.
You could also try flatbreads, though I think the crepe consistency works best with the sauce. But the sauce would also be good with rice, or on top of a baked potato.
How to make these chicken crepes
There are two parts to this: the filling and the crepes. For the filling, you cook the vegetables, add the chopped meat and then make the cheese sauce in with the vegetable-meat mixture. It is a whole lot quicker than separately making a roux etc as the pan is already hot and it uses one less pan.
Also, I at least had no problem with getting lumps. In fact I had less problems with lumps than I sometimes do making a sauce on its own. (I know, as a food blogger you'd think I had that down but I admit I am often lazy and don't warm the milk. Hence, lumps.)
For the crepes, it's quickest and easiest to make the mixture with a blender. Then when you cook them, make sure your pan heats up before you start.
It is often easiest (if you don't have a proper crepe-pan, especially) to take the pan off the heat to pour in the mixture and swirl it round. And don't be afraid to patch little gaps, you will hardly notice after.
These chicken leek and mushroom crepes are delicious and pretty easy to make, and the perfect way to enjoy your leftover is a slightly different way. Or just find any old excuse to have some extra meat to make them.
Try these other leftovers recipes:
- Thai red curry
- Vietnamese chicken salad
- Pastilla (savory Moroccan pie)
- Plus get more Holiday recipes in the archives.
You might also like to try this filling in my buckwheat crepes. And for another tasty savory crepe, try ficelle picarde with a mushroom and ham filling and cheese on top.
Chicken crepes with leek and mushroom (or turkey leftovers)
Ingredients
For the crepes
- 1 egg
- pinch salt
- ⅓ cup 45g all-purpose/plain flour
- ⅓ cup milk 80ml, or a little more as needed
For the filling
- 4 oz mushrooms 110g
- 3 oz leek 85g, around ½ a large
- 1 ½ tablespoon butter 15g
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 oz cooked chicken 85g, or turkey, cut in bite-sized chunks
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ cup milk 120ml
- ½ cup cheddar 45g, grated
Instructions
- First make the crepe mixture - this is easiest with a hand blender but can be done by hand. Whisk the egg and salt together. Add the flour and ¼ cup milk and mix until smooth. Add up to ¼ cup more milk, to give a fairly runny batter. Leave to rest while making the filling.
- Remove any long stems from the mushrooms, cup them in half and slice. Cut leek in half lengthwise then cut in medium-thin slices.
- Melt the butter over a medium heat in a small-medium pan. Add the leeks and cook for approx 5min to allow them to soften, stirring regularly.
- Next, add the mushrooms and thyme and allow mushrooms to cook, another 5 or so minutes, then add the turkey/chicken.
- Add the flour and stir in so it absorbs all the butter. Meanwhile, heat your frying pan/skillet for the crepes.
- Reduce the heat a little then add half of the milk, stir so it is mixed in then add the remaining milk and stir in. Add the cheese, stir so it melts and mixes through then turn off the heat. Set aside while you cook the crepes (or warm ready-made ones)
- Pour approx ¼ cup of the crepe mixture into the warm frying pan/skillet. Do this with the pan off the heat and at the same time swirl it round the pan so it covers all of the base. Fill any gaps with a little extra batter.
- After a couple minutes, loosen the edge and once the edge starts to curl up and go crisp, turn the crepe over with a spatula/palette knife. Cook a couple more minutes on the other side.
- Remove to a plate, put a large spoonful of turkey/chicken mixture to one side of the crepe and roll it up. Repeat with the remaining crepe and turkey mixtures - you should get around 4 depending on size.
Nutrition
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This post was first published in December 2014 but has been updated, primarily with new photos.
Cindy Osborne says
These were restaurants quality! I got a ton of compliments, loved them and so easy! I ran out of milk on the second batch and used a creamer for 1/2 of milk. Ok but burned, so if you switch it up be careful! Thank you!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear these worked out well for you and were enjoyed by all!
Hilda says
What a great recipe for using up some of that left-over turkey!
Erlene says
Oh my gosh that looks so wonderful. I would probably just eat it right out of the pot. Pinned.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, Erlene! I admit, I made extra filling and made the crepes a bit too thick (wasn't concentrating) when we had them yesterday and did just that...
Loretta says
Love crepes, whether sweet or savory, your filling sounds just wonderful!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, Loretta, I hope you manage to try this and like it!
Julie @ HostessAtHeart says
I just love this filling. So delicious! I've never made a crepe though so may be spooning right out of the pan as is. Yum!
Angie says
Your recipes are always top-notch, Caroline! Once again you bring us a marvelous creation. I can imagine the leek and mushrooms adding so much flavor to the crepes. Sounds just divine!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thank you, Angie, that's so nice of you to say. They really are tasty, I can't wait to have them again!